A Thank You To All Our Readers And Some Changes To S&S

Since Surly & I cannot say thank you enough, thank you for continuing to come here, reading our work and talking puck with us.

It’s fun watching this site grow. We started S&S in September of 2009 (hence the number “9” on the back of my Scribe jersey) for the love of the Kings but also in part because we didn’t care for the strict moderation and censorship of opinion that is so prevalent on message boards and other blogs and sites.

In the first 15 months through the end of 2010, we got about 170,000 visitors. In 2011, we tickled 600,000. Now, in 2012, we are heading for more than 1,000,000 per year. 1,645 articles and posts in less than 2 and 1/2 years. Just under 16,000 comments to those articles. We have been quoted and linked by Yahoo Sports’ Puck Daddy, ESPN, NBC Sports’ Pro Hockey Talk and numerous hockey media sites as well as hockey blogs and message boards throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

The site has sprouted quickly and that wouldn’t have been possible without your readership and contributions. We are proud to have maintained our fierce independence, not accepted invitations by those who wished to take our message to a broader audience but with a filter and rejected advertisers weekly so the content won’t be diluted or surrounded by noise.

That brings me to a few changes to the site.

Look at the top of your screen. The pages are a bit different. To the right of the “About” page is “Surly & Scribe Humor”. This page is a drop down menu and currently has some of our skits (I still have not found all of them) as well as the well received Jamie Kompon Appreciation Page. I intend to add as a separate drop down on this page our many Top 10 lists we have posted the last 2 + years…if I can find them all.

To the right of that are Surly & Scribe Features, also a drop down menu. I have not done the Hockey 2.0 feature justice. I intend to change that in 2012. There is no reason I cannot write at least 1-2 feature articles per month. I know many of you enjoy the technical aspects of the game (the X’s and O’s) and I can’t wait to chat with you about it…to tell you the truth, it’s hard to find people who are willing and able to do so. That is why this page was initially intended as my outlet. I know our readers, as they are Die-Hards and a good number have played the game, would make for great discussion. The “Quotable Lombardi” page is also a feature, one we have had since the beginning, and includes a list of Dean’s quotes that have been of interest to us. I have a feeling we have good quotes coming up as the trade deadline and April approach.

You will then notice the “Reader Hall of Fame.” We get some terrific comments on this site. Some are hilarious, inspiring or illuminating. When Surly or I see a comment that is worthy of great praise, we will honor it by placing it on this page with a credit to the commenter. It will be fun to watch the Hall of Fame grow over the coming months and years.

The last page is Blasphemous Rumors. What we have done here is taken the L.A. Kings rumors that circulate around the web including those we hear every once in a while and post them on this page. We cite to the source of the rumor when we have it (and when we can) and give our own insight on the rumor, when it is merited.

Finally, remember that Surly & I are open to reader submitted articles. We have had many readers become writers including Howard Roark, JT Dutch, Sydor25, Jungle Dave (for the Monarchs) and recently Player-X. Why do I feel like I am forgetting someone? In an event, this is your site. We do this for you. And we have some big plans in the coming year to expand S&S as I am actively recruiting for particular talents which I will keep a secret for now and we expect will bring you a whole new level of awesome before the end of 2012.

Guys, you are a bit rebellious in the spirit of early day Keith Richards, but I dig that, so it’s good. I really enjoy the fact that you guys put a whole lot of work into this blog and that it’s so open. It’s great to have a forum where you can just express what the hell it is that you’re thinking, without worrying about ruffling someone’s feathers.

I too was sick of the strict guidelines, and censorship of other sites, and message boards. I don’t even visit them anymore, since I feel I get all I need here.

I still find it strange, and very fortunate that we have such a venue, and outlet to speak about the Kings. When I first started watching, all I had was the LA Times (my local paper covered hockey horribly, and then adopted the ducks, which made them worse). Now I can talk puck, read articles, and feel the camaraderie I never had when I first started watching the Kings. I am more grateful for this site than you can imagine. Thank you again.

Congratulations Surly & Scribe. The reputation you guys have, and readers you have amassed in so short a time are well deserved. I know I won’t have purple kool-aid blasted up my ass, which is always a plus. This is the homepage on all my gadgets. Thanks for taking the time and putting in the effort, I sure as hell appreciate it.

I noticed some discussion about SB Nation in the other thread, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me, exactly where did SB Nation come from? I only noticed it like everywhere in the hockey circles in the last few years. Where did it come from, who exactly is running it, how does one get their site on there as the definitive site for that team?

I ask because Ive probably commented on four or so of them, and read others, and some are run well, but its like some are literally cults run by psychopaths. I posted on the Kings one for about three days, and quickly stopped. There is is this like sibling or child-father act going on between Quisp and Neesy or something, and Neesy is literally either mentally…slow, psychotic, or both.

I think I only made about 15 posts total in my short time there, but every single post, no matter what time of night or day, was immediately met with a response from this person within like two minutes. I would be responding to another poster, or to an article not written by this person, but he would respond immediately with these long winded, overbearing responses.

It was like this person felt the website belonged to them, or was their turf, and any comment made was therefore under his jurisdiction, and it was his responsibility to intrude his opinion on every comment and discussion, especially if you said something that could be considered anything less than a blowjob about the Kings or the players.

And Quisp, I remember his name because I still go to the site every few weeks when times get really slow, the level of overvaluing himself and just plain narcissism is incredible. He makes no frills about it, he is the Jim Jones of this particular cult, the hockey gods speak to him and him only.

When do you something long enough, like blog, you learn to articulate well, and the same thing with stats, when you spend 90% of your life riffling through hockey stats, you learn how to articulate the stats in articles and make your own points. However, there is so much more to writing about hockey than experience with writing, and writing about stats. He is not god, not even god of blogging, and I cant remember the last time Ive actually gleaned insights from this guy short of learning random stats. Then again, I dont read their site much anymore.

In fact, I remember trying to bring some insight to the comments, the Kings offense isnt good enough, there isnt enough top end skill, no sniper, Drew Doughty is out of shape, and within a split second of publishing I would get disparaging responses from either Neesy or Quisp, if not both. At the time I thought my opinion was right, of course, and they were wrong, but its hard to prove opinions. But now its obvious. They were wrong, about really big issues. Narcissism is one thing if you earn the right to be cocky about something through a proven record of being an expert about that certain subject, but to be narcissistic about while simultaneously being wrong about it? Wow.

It begs the question Im sort of asking about, who the heck is running SB Nation and who decides on these blogs? I mean how do people like Quisp and Niesy, who in many ways represent all the worst aspects that are associated with total sports obsession, melded with arrested development and mental issues, have their own SB Nation blog? If you look at the comments they get, no one comes to that blog, either, at least compared to the other hockey SB Nation blogs I went to.
Really surprising because LA is such a huge sports market, and Kings hockey is bigger than its been in a long time. But I think anyone that hangs around there more than a couple hours either has to be someone who enjoys subserving to a master without even any pickiness as to whether the masters even know what theyre talking about, or they leave because who wants to hang out with weirdos like that.

That was my experience, anyway, and it just made me wonder about SB Nation. Can anyone illuminate about it? Because some blogs really have intelligent, cool people running them, and most importantly they know how to actually run a blog. I dont mean just writing blogs, but they know to let people have discussions. So how did Quisp even get on SB Nation, and why is there such a drop off from some of the SB Nation blogs to theirs?

The only way you would get a coherent answer from me to this post is if I had my magic 8-ball. Thus, I will leave the response to this post to player-x with Tuan Jim inserting the necessary and within context phallic references.

We can all take ourselves too seriously at times. Also, when you write something, it stays out there. People see it in whatever mood they bring to their session, and so reception can be something of a crap shoot. Great ideas well supported can be seen as long-winded, or as sound reasoning. So, in fairness, any blogger on any site can fall victim to the reader’s varied opinions.

As for JFTC, it has changed. A woman named Connie Kim started it as far as I know. I first learned of the site while she was there, Quisp was a co-author, and Niesy (it might be Neisy, or another variant) was yet to be granted author status but was a regular commenter.

Quisp is a genius, but he is also not a kind person. All the attitudes you described have been felt by me, too. I feel your pain, and sympathize with the frustration level that must exist to drive you to such an exasperated post here tonight.

SB Nation has a national leadership that claims certain rules for all its blogs, but in my experience the enforcement is spotty. I am pretty sure that SB Blogs are mostly local, home-grown and fan-driven. It seems like it must be, at least in some way, a money-making enterprise, but I actually have no idea of the financial structure.

Some are more tolerant, some are very intolerant. It may interest you to know that Quisp himself is, or at least was at one time and for many months, banned from commenting at a New Jersey Devils SB Nation site. I have had many run-ins with Quisp; there is even one on-going at this moment.

I once protested on another SB Nation site, Battle of California, about a certain posting that contained “stonerisms” dealing in humor related to the Holocaust. There was a picture of Donald Duck dressed as a Nazi, the substance contained what I thought were poor choices, and consequently the comments were very ugly, citing jokes on a level with the “scream in an oven” type.

After my protests on the site were met with hate, I wrote to the SB Nation and asked them to look at it. They did respond, and they did speak to the authors of the site. My feeling at the time was that the authors were chastised, and responded as they had to while muttering under their breath, as grousing schoolchildren would. Point being, there are some national policies, violations of those policies will be addressed, but the threshold for any real discipline and/or change seems to make protests worthless.

Oh, and by the way, the anti-Semitic stuff about the holocaust was published on National Holocaust Remembrance Day.

One of my main reasons for disliking JFTC is that the commenters, endorsed by the authors, are very snobbish. So, I don’t want to be seen as hypocritical by being snobbish toward that site, but it just seems unavoidable.

As an example, with one of Hammond’s Insider Suite Nights having just concluded, the subject of the event itself came up.

Most said they wouldn’t go, and one of them was met with wide agreement when he said he didn’t dare go because the “level of stupid” would be just too much and he might get into a problem. So, I wrote that many of the attendees were new fans, some were children, and that what he perceived as IQ-related ignorance was most often just people who were learning the game, or were simply unaware of salary caps, prospects in the pipeline, etc. Just ask any of these people to try something new in life, and I think you will see what limits their outlook on life creates.

Anyway, Bobby Scribe has indicated consistently that he is opposed to any censorship, so the beauty of this place is that intolerance is tolerated, while most people aren’t cruel about it. They may be harsh, but usually not completely unfair or random. If you get an argument, it’s probably gonna have some meat to respond about. It seems that JFTC wants a tight group, and it also seems that is what they have. This place is more egalitarian, but actually in keeping with the Don Rickles theory; everybody catches some crap eventually, so it isn’t discrimination.

Welcome here, and I hope you continue to post, using the energy to teach a little and learn a little as you go. How ‘bout them Kings!!

I agree about the snobbish attitudes as per some of the blogs. Rudy Kelly at battle of california is capable of writing some incredibly funny shit. Pretty cool, too, as far as not being snobbish. I dont read duck or shark shit, so cant comment. The posters on that blog, except for Spade in victorhell, treat it as exclusive turf. Jftc, to me has to many numbers. I dont care about “hard numbers” because anything is possible any game and, being 40, I no longer have patience to deal with it. Anyway, you are at the perfect site.

Oh yeah, Matsuda’s site can be good. But he went bananas over TM getting fired and wrote a propaganda piece. So I tell him ” Joseph Goebbles would be proud of that piece” ( referring to his position as propaganda minister, as i called it propaganda repeateatedly). So he thinks i called him a nazi. I included other propaganda.icons like Pravda and TASS, so he knew what i meant. He had zero ground to stand on so resorted to that. So again, you found the perfect site.

He’s the only one besides S&S who lets me wipe my ass on the curtains — er, express myself without restraint.

But I started to detect the fetid odor of Hammond-ism — that schoolmarmish think-how-many-kids-read-this-shit paranoia — that is Death to thought.

Not that Quisp ever called me out. He could care less if I jacked off in his Goal Magazine, so long as I cleaned up afterwards. But I sensed a vague, miasmic fog of “good-taste” and “concern for the feelings of others” creep slowly, but inexorably, into his mix.

Good taste and fellow-feeling are not in S&S’ job descriptions. So I found a home at this address.

Since Bobby hungers for some sort of contextual “phallic reference”, I’ll simply state that Hammond is a dick-head — (ever notice how much he looks like a deviant serial killer?)

“We dont want Jeff Carter and his contract,” you say. Could I possibly make you reconsider? Because with that logic I think you are making the same mistake as many GMs.

1st, are you happy Mike Richards and his identical contract is on the team? Well, Jeff Carter is just as good as Mike Richards, actually significantly better at scoring goals on offense, and not as good defensively, but hes an equally top player with probably more ability to take over games offensively with pure skill. He can do it at any time, with just one shot. Also, if youre not worried about the length of the contract with Mike Richards, Carter is much more durable than Richards, has had way less injuries in the past, so if youre not considered about Richards durability for the deal, you shouldnt be with Carter.

But thats not the main point. At all. Here is the main point, what everyone out there is missing.

When it comes to top line players, you cant fucking be picky. You want that top line sniper who is just as good offensively as he is defensively, with zero history of off ice issues, zero injury history, someone with the attitude of a champion, happy wherever he plays, with a good cap hit and term.

But players like that, not only are there only a handful, but they are never available. No one trades the perfect situation. I mean how many top line talents do you think will be available this year, period? In the last few seasons, I can think of:

Marian Gaborik–Extremely injury prone at the time of the deal, got 7 mil a year anyway, didn’t want to sign in LA anyway.
Ilya Kovalchuk–expiring contract who was going to cost way more than Carter to re-sign after his contract ran out, apparently after money more than winning, had a reputation of not playing any defense, and the odds of him signing in LA turned out to be low.
Marian Hossa–expiring contract, was going to cost more to re-sign than Carter, also wasnt going to re-sign in LA with Chicago, Detroit, and everyone else offering him contracts.
Dany Heatley–Huge 7.5 million cap hit, history of asking for trades, reputation of having a bad attitude and not playing defense.
Mike Richards, who the Kings got.

So does everyone understand? Guys this good come along so rarely, especially at a good cap hit like Carter (length of the deal be damned), you have to jump on it. You dont get to pick “oh I would rather have this all-star.” No. If one becomes available, one who will actually be with the Kings as long as they want him (unlike all the pending UFA’s of years passed who DONT COME TO THE KINGS), you sign him.

Think about it. UFA snipers wont sign with the Kings, Lombardi doesnt draft his own top snipers, so how else is he supposed to get one? Only way is through trade. Except why would anyone trade a non-crap-contract top sniper? They never do. There has to be something of a wart. Jeff Carter, when you think of it, he has all the speed, skill, and size, too, that you could want in a top line sniper. He has a cap hit of 5M, fantastic for a 40 goal talent. His only warts, the only reason the Kings are lucky enough to have a shot at him in the first place, is that his contract is long, and hes not happy in Columbus, and it just hasnt worked out there.

What, you want him with a shorter contract, and a better attitude, loving Columbus? If that was the case, he wouldn’t be available!

There is about one top line player every season who becomes available, only one, and really its only one every two or three seasons that isnt on an expiring contract. Generally, when these guys are still under contract and on a good cap hit, they dont get traded! I mean think of the guys who were available for trade who still had term on their contract, which is what the Kings need because UFAs probably wont sign. It’s Kessel, who was only traded because the Leafs gave up Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton, then Dany Heatley with a much bigger cap hit than Carter even though Carter is better, Mike Richards earlier this season only because of a chance confluence of events and he was coming off his worst year, and Carter. And thats over 4-5 seasons. ITS EXTREMELY RARE THAT SOMEONE THIS GOOD IS EVEN AVAILABLE, LET ALONE WITH A FANTASTIC 5 MIL CAP HIT. UNLESS THE KINGS THINK THEY CAN GET PARISE AND KEEP HIM, JEFF CARTER IS THE BEST SOLUTION TO THEIR SCORING ISSUES THAT HAS COME AVAILABLE IN THE TRADE MARKET FOR YEARS not counting UFAs, and hes the best option that will become available likely for years to come.

I remember when Richards and Carter were traded, Scott Howson mentioned that only 2 or 3 top line centers had been traded over the last 10-15 years before Richards and Carter. Carter would probably be playing wing for the Kings, but the point is the same. These guys are so rare. Carter is young, in his prime, has all the tools, with the a very fair cap hit. What more do you want? THIS IS THE GUY. This is the sniper they need. This is the best its going to get. Columbus is looking to deal him. He is definitely, definitely gettable, and all of a sudden you have your top line sniper, which the Kings have not had in a long time, and hes locked up through his prime. 10 more years on the contract is not ideal, at all, but its time to win, NOW, and this is as good as its going to get.

I just hate to see people saying the Kings shouldnt go for Carter, when I know, I know, he would be a fantastic addition. This is one of those Tyler Myers/Colten Teubert moments, and Im telling you, Im telling Dean, Im telling everyone, just take the jump, take that contract off their hands that theyre dying to deal, and you wont look back. Be so glad u did. Great add. Please DL!

Quick thoughts:
1. Questions about Carter’s work ethic shy me away.
2. Question about his attitude – I disliked the way he handled the trade to Columbus – like a pouting prima donna.
3. His contract is difficult to trade if he does not work out.
4. Columbus may want a ransom for him. I doubt they dump him for anything less than one of our own top 6 + D prospect + 1st.
5. If he was affordable, he may be worth it BUT his injuries make me question if he has any value this season and we need scoring help now. How many games has he played this season? How many injuries has he had? I am concerned.
6. Richards did not come with the injury concerns, questions of work ethic and leadership and issues regarding defensive responsibility.

Hello Anonymoustruth. As for the story relative to SB, I can’t really say a whole lot. I’ve posted over there and been ok with it. Though I post under another name, I’d prefer to keep things kosher. Each site has it’s own dynamics is all I’d say.

Relative to Jeff Carter ….. and I really want to say this with loads of respect…. when you say that you know for certain he’d work out…. none of us ever know how someone is gonna work out. There are too many different changes in dynamics. But I absolutely lean heavily towards Scribe’s comments. As I see it, Bobby is spot on. I watch a lot of hockey, listen to nhl homeice (less now than before, but still fairly often) and there absolutely was a buzz about his work ethic. I’m not worried about Mike Richards behavior, but indisputably there was something going on in Philly between the two of those guys. Based on nothing more than that, I have to believe that you don’t tempt fate with that sort of pairing.

Look, if Jeff Carter couldn’t even keep himself from that sort of innuendo in Philly, I would certainly not want him faffing about in LA with his old party pal.
Here’s another point: you may have noticed that the Kings for – effectively as long as I can remember now, have had difficulty beating poor to average teams At Home. That to me means that something (and I don’t know What that Something is) is not in place. I wouldn’t expect that sort of a pattern to appear in Detroit, Chicago or Boston.

To me, sorting that out is far more important than bringing in a guy who has plenty of questions floating around him. I believe it was two years ago that so many wanted the Kings to trade for Dany Heatley. I was vehemently opposed. I didn’t like a whole lot of stuff that was following him around. Well, look how that worked out for him playing with really good players in San Jose.

He had I believe like five goals in thirty some odd playoff games. That says a lot, and Carter has been equally unimpressive in the playoffs.

Take it all for what it’s worth. Just my opinion, but based on Scribe’s comments, I’m not alone.

I always saw Carter as a nasty guy like Messier, that can score and plays center and wing. If I am gonna look at next year, adding about 20 percent to Penner’s contract for Carter seems a good deal.

Contract length has to be a concern. Work ethic stems from attitude, and I think Holmgren totally screwed Carter and Richards by trading them after they signed long-term deals for him, so Carter’s attitude in Philly could be easily understood. I know almost nothing about his handling of the trade, exept to reiterate that I am sure it was a shock to him as it was to Richards and some reactionary emotion could be forgiven.

In 2009-2010 Carter and Richards both were listed as centers, and both of their combined stats made them top 5 in value among SECOND centers in the league. Ryan Kesler was tops, in my opinion, but balancing goals, face-off percentage, assists and plus/minus these guys were both excellent for their salary.

Tough call, but if I was Lombardi I would have to be seriously looking at it. Scribe says a top 6, a prospect and a first, but that seems steep. Maybe Columbus asks for it now, but they can ask for anything they want. I don’t think they get that much. Wouldn’t Columbus be wiser to go for more NHL-ready bodies and a pipeline guy? Like a 5-6 Defenseman, a journeyman forward (Richardson, even tho I would hate it since I love that guy) and maybe a Muzzin or Drewiske? If Columbus needs a goalie…

We’ll see very soon how Dean Lombardi sees this team, and whether he’s facing pressure from above and is losing control. At this point in his career, I think Lombardi would rather resign than give in and blow up his work. He’d have another GM job if he wants. I think he’d pass on Carter, for a top six, prospect and #1 anyway. If he triggers it at that price I’d be highly surprised and we’d know he’s lost control.

It looks like I missed some integral comments here to the discussion. It looks like some of this “we dont want Carter” thinking has to do with people not seeing the videos I have with Dreger talking about Carter, and thus people think he will cost a lot.

Thats not the case. It was the latest insider trading video or one of them, and basically, Dreger said a bunch of things all sounding like Columbus will give him away if someone will take him.

“Carter is 100% in play. Columbus wants a 1st round draft pick and a young roster player.”

Thats what Dreger said, those are the quotes on the surface.

What they mean below the surface, why he’s in play, is this…

Jeff Carter is not happy in Columbus, it hasnt worked out, and Columbus basically wants to get rid of him and his long contract while they can instead of being stuck with an unhappy player for that long.

So Im not saying Carter has asked for a trade, but thats basically the situation. They want to trade him, they would be happy even getting back part of what they gave up to get him. If you accept the premise that Carter and Mike Richards are of similar value, and I do (they do it in different ways but both are of similar value overall), well, it wouldnt take more to get Carter than it took to get Richards, it would take less.

So if you’re happy with the Richards deal, the Carter one should be even better based on getting the same value back, but giving up less.

Anyway, Bobby, maybe this changes your mind. Kings wouldnt have to give up a top 6 guy. In fact, if you remember the Dany Heatley situation, Ottawa started out asking for a lot, but eventually only one team would take him, and they settled for whatever they could get. Michalek turned out nicely for them but at the time he wasnt worth much.

Basically, Dreger says most the GMs are like you guys, scared of the “what if’s”, and they arent interested in taking a long contract for a 27 year old. Which is so ridiculous because every UFA period they are offering even longer contracts to 30-32 year olds like Brad Richards.

Anyway, there wouldnt be a lot of competiton to get him, which is whats great about it, and it wouldnt cost a lot.

I love this website. I visit it everyday. Congratulations I hope the best and for more opportunities to come your way. Thank you for the laughs. Also for providing me with much needed hockey schooling.

Keep it rolling, boys. You gentlemen are a blessing to us knuckleheads.

This site also has the best commentators not only in knowledge and humor but in civility. Time eludes me from holding conversation with all you cool people, but I read regularly and enjoy all that is written.

You guys make good points. I agree with them. But the point I was making is that all those good points are pointless. Is Carter the perfect situation? No. Do we know it would work out? No. When I said I knew it would be a good deal, I meant in the Mike Richards vein, that you would be glad he was on the team once he was on the team, happy to have him. Does that mean Mike Richards or Jeff Carter will be healthy five years from now? Does that mean we know they wont suffer career ending concussions two years into the 10 year commitment? No.

So your points are well taken, there are concerns about attitude with both players according to some sources, concerns about injuries past and potential future ones, concerns about the length of the deal. Those are all good points.

But the reason I feel they are also besides the point is this. What other option do we have??? Seriously. This team cant score. This team is not good enough. What’s the better option? Do nothing? Just think about the facts for a minute here. How many players in the last however many years have actually suffered career ending injuries? How many of those long contracts have come back to bite teams because of injuries?

Rick Dipietro, but that was an absolutely ridiculously stupid contract to start with. And Marc Savard is more comparable to Carter. Marc Savard, thats it.

99% of players play their whole careers. Carter is a risk, but I dont think its as big as people think. And regardless, the Kings have put themselves in a position where they have to take those risks.

Because again, what else are you going to do? If you cant get Parise, how do you make the Kings a good team that can score? Waive a magic wand? I am trying to be a realist here. Jeff Carter is a top line player, one of the most talented goalscorers in the NHL. No one is perfect but he is a rare breed of player that isnt usually available to the Kings.

If you cant get Parise, how are you going to fix this team’s offense? What’s the plan. I feel like everyone here is so focused on overanalyzing every wart supposedly has–and let’s remember Mike Richards was supposed to have all the same ones before he came here and I dont hear anyone complaining about that now–I feel like everyone is so focused on that, they are forgetting the more important point, which is what choice do the Kings have? The point I was trying to make is that when you dont draft your own scorers, and none want to come to your team through free agency, you have VERY VERY FEW OPTIONS left.

And by few, I mean, at least right now, I only see two, and one probably wont happen. One is Zach Parise, and hes only an option if hell re-sign in LA. Looking at past history, odds are he wont.

That leaves Jeff Carter.

You want a team that can score? Jeff Carter is your one option. Thats my point. Maybe its time LA fans, and their GM, learned that sometimes you have to swallow a little risk and a little uncertainty if you want bring in talent. Or you can just go on being 100% cautious, never doing anything, and it will be another 10 years of a team that cant score.

And what is the risk, anyway? The Kings trade for Carter, and then gets a career ending concussion next season even though he has no history of concussions? Ok, even then, hes on LTIR for the remainder of the contract. Which means he doesnt count against the cap. So the only risk is it costs LA 6-7 million more per year for the next 10 years if they want to spend to the cap.

Thats fine with me. Maybe thats a risk Lieweke needs to take if he wants to build a winner. Every other Cup winning team in recent memory has done it.

Philadelphia made the Final with Carter and Richards. Chicago had Hossa and Duncan Keith on those contracts when they won it that year. Detroit had Datsyuk and Zetterberg on Carter type contracts (except they’re older and theres even more risk involved), not to mention Franzen who is very injury prone. Boston had Savard, Vancouver Luongo in the Final.

I mean these are the facts. There is a reason the top teams in the NHL have long term contracts like this, its because they are beneficial, they keep the cap hit down, which allows them more talent, which helps them win. Carter’s long term is a very good thing in that sense, because the cap hit is a steal.

I mean these are the facts. There is risk with every player, but if you look around the league, players may get injured for half a season, or a full season, which is a risk for any player on any contract, but very few are actually suffering career ending injuries.

So the risk is much less than you think. Carter’s attitude complaints are probably also very overblown as they were with Richards. I mean its the same exact sources that were wrong about Richards that said the same things about Carter. If youre happy with Richards how can you not be Carter?

Yes, Carter handled being traded to Columbus poorly, that is very true, but if he hadnt, he wouldnt be available. Again, the perfect player is not available for trade, he never is. Youre always going to have to swallow something you dont like in a trade like this, just be happy that in this case its that the player didnt like Columbus, which doesnt affect LA at all, as opposed to the player actually having a wart in his actual game.

And then the biggest point I keep harping on, what other option is there?

That’s what I’d like answered by the people who dont think the Kings should trade for Carter. What would you do instead? Sure, Id like Evgeni Malkin instead of Carter, too, but hes not available. Its Carter or no one. 40 goals or 0 goals.

What other option is there? (Seriously, not rhetorical, I want to hear).

And may I just remind everyone, it’s been god knows how many years since the Los Angeles Kings have had a top line winger. Michael Cammalleri was the closest thing in recent memory, and that was FOUR YEARS AGO. Do you want to go another four years without a top line sniper, if you can even call Cammalleri that? And if you dont count Cammalleri, how long has it been, really? 10 years? 15? I didnt watch the Kings back then so I dont know.

But do you understand now, if you look at the history? The Columbus Blue Jackets also went about TEN SEASONS without adding a top line forward to player to play with Nash, even though theyd been trying for a long time.

The Calgary Flames have gone JAROME IGINLA’S ENTIRE CAREER WITH THEM without finding him a top line center.

THESE TOP LINE FORWARDS ARE INCREDIBLY, INCREDIBLY RARE TO BE AVAILABLE. I think everyone is missing that. Do you want to go another five, ten years without a top line goal scorer for the Kings? Because if you look at whats happened with Columbus, Calgary, and the Kings, thats whats going to happen.

Like Ive said, I dont like everything about Carter, but what is indisputable is that he puts an end to all that BS immediately. The Kings could have him, tomorrow, and there it is, just like that, a snap of the fingers, and that decade drought of having a top line sniper is over, along with what probably would have been another five or ten years if the Kings didnt agree Carter.

My point is, people always find reasons not to take that jump, not to acquire a player, because there’s risks involved. You always find a reason not to, and what happens? Calgary wastes Jarome Iginla’s entire career with them in a sense because they couldnt bring in one single top line center to play with him the entire time. Columbus has squandered Rick Nash’s potential, and their franchise’s potential, by never bringing anyone in.

And the Los Angeles Kings have not won a single playoff series in 10 years or however long its been.

Thats what being inactive, being passive, will get you. You always hold out for something better, the perfect player to become available for nothing in return, and it never happens.

Jeff Carter, unlike even Zach Parise, is a prototypical thoroughbred sniper with speed and size (Parise is undersized, like Mike Richards), skill, and an amazing shot, and “40 goal potential” gets thrown around a lot, I mean any 25 goal scorer under the perfect circumstances could have a 40 goal year, people were saying Penner had 40 goal potential last season, but when I say Carter has 40 goal potential, that’s real 40 goal potential, every season. I don’t mean he could score 40 goals some season, I mean he should, every season he’s healthy.

Carter is a 40 goal sniper, in his prime, with a 5.25 million cap hit, and the Blue Jackets want to get rid of him as reported by TSN themselves. All they want back, even what they floated through TSN, is a 1st round pick and a young roster player, which would be less than the Kings gave up for Penner, and which means they would probably settle for a 2nd and a young roster player, or just a 1st round pick, by the deadline.

Even taking their highest asking price at face value…

A 1st round pick and Andrei Loktionov, or a 1st round pick and Thomas Hickey, or a 1st round pick and Kyle Clifford, maybe throw in a 3rd… all assets that are currently not helping the Kings on the ice one bit… and you get back a 40 goal guy in his prime with all the tools?

That’s a deal the Kings have to make. Is it perfect? No. But is it better than going another five or ten years without a real goal scorer to play with Kopitar? I cant see how anyone could say no. It’s better. It’s the best option the Kings have.

It’s not the talent that we need, but the program to make use of the talent that we already have. Think how many guys have come here, scores of notches on their sticks, only to vanish into that gigantic maw that swallows up offense.

We sacrificed an entertaining — and occasionally orgasmic — offensive creativity to get sober, prosaic, steady, and winning defense. The offense will return. You don’t transform your game overnight. However UN-productive we are, you can still detect a nimbler puck control in the offensive zone — not the old-time beat-the-shit-outa-them-at-the-boards-hustle (though I like that, too), but finding shooting lanes, squirreling round the net. We HAVE changed. I regret the loss of SIZE — the absence of the big sonsabitches who used to sit on the goaltender’s face while a loping shot was fired from the point. But there’s more electricity in our offense. Give it time, and it’ll pay off.

The idea of trading ANYONE — including Bailey — for Carter makes me retch. Fuck Carter and the egoistic horse he rode in on.

If you dont think the Kings need more talent, then that’s a completely different discussion. What Im asking is, for those who agree that more talent is good, what other options are there to add more goalscoring talent besides Carter?

Im not disputing that you want to get the most out of your talent, and maybe the Kings arent doing that, but I dont see what thats mutually exclusive to needing more talent. The Kings dont have a top line sniper, they need one.

And Purcell isnt a top line sniper right now. Moulson is on the Islanders, but he wasnt on the Kings, and even now hes not at the level of Carter in talent, even if hes posting better numbers.